Just to complicate the issue even further, additional studies have found disparities in the use of politeness strategies by men versus women, with men using them to express uncertainty and women using them to facilitate conversation. This can lead to women being seen as indecisive, when they’re really just being courteous. Women in a workplace setting also face a catch-22 when it comes to being direct versus being polite, with them taking more heat than men regardless of which communication style they employ. For these reasons, the style misunderstandings I’ve described can have far more adverse effects on women than on men.